Amid tight embraces, first introductions, smiles and tears, Coquitlam's Tima Kurdi welcomed her brother and his family to Canada Monday morning.
It was a joyful reunion, coming about nine months after Kurdi began the process of sponsoring Mohammad Kurdi, his wife and their five children, refugees fleeing the ongoing conflict in Syria. But along with relief, gratitude and elation there was also deep sorrow for their brother, Abudllah Kurdi, whose wife and two sons drowned as they attempted to travel from Turkey to the Greek Island of Kos in September.
Speaking through his sister, who was translating for the family, Mohammad Kurdi said it would not feel real until his feet hit the ground and that finally being in Canada was "a dream come true."
"We almost lost hope but thank you to the Canadian government and to the Canadian people who made it happen," he continued. "Now I feel, it's the beginning again. I'm really happy."
His son, 14-year-old Shergo Kurdi, echoed his father's sentiments, adding he was happy to be returning to school soon and starting a new life. "But at the same time all the thought in the airplane for 10 hours was for…his cousins," Tima Kurdi translated.
The image of three-year-old Alan Kurdi, his lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach, galvanized the world's attention on the Syrian refugee crisis. It became a flash point in the Canadian federal election, with the new Liberal government promising to bring in 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, with another 15,000 due by February 2016.
Members of the Kurdi family repeatedly expressed their deep gratitude for all the work and support that went in to bringing the family to Canada and urged people to open their homes and hearts to their fellow refugees.
"The most important part is to thank you, the Canadian people, thank you to our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for opening the door and showing the world how everyone could welcome and save the lives of refugees, thank you so much for giving this," Tima Kurdi said.
"For the people who struggle all over the world, I just want to tell them there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I walked through that tunnel, I did not see that light yet, but it doesn't mean it' the end. Keep walking until you do."
Mohammad Kurdi will be joining his sister at her Port Coquitlam hair salon on Coast Meridian Road, where he'll work as a barber. Tima Kurdi said she also plans to continue helping refugees by drawing attention to the conflict and encouraging others to open their doors.
"We wish the war to end," she added, noting it's what all the "suffering refugees" are hoping for. "Please don't close the door in their face."
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